Treachery in Death (In Death #32)(96)

The door behind her burst open—and told her one of the things she wanted to know. Renee had the squad room monitored from her office.

“Dallas. I don’t appreciate you coming into my squad and harassing my men.”

“Is that what I’m doing?” Eve kept her eyes on Bix as she spoke. “Do you consider it harassment to expect and demand respect due rank? Your men are a disgrace.”

“In my office!”

Now Eve turned, and her tone brought winter into the room. “I don’t take orders from you, Oberman. You’re on the edge of having me file a formal complaint against you, against this detective, and requesting a full review of your command.”

Angry color slashed across Renee’s cheekbones. “I would prefer to discuss your grievances in the privacy of my office.”

“Sure,” Eve said, and strolled inside. She had to fight a satisfied smile when the door slammed.

And it was just plain fun to see, even with the heels Renee wore, that she retained the advantage of height. She tried a Summerset-style look down her nose.

“Who the hell do you think you are? Coming into my squad, threatening me, abusing my men? Do you think because you’re Central’s golden girl you can come here, aim and fire at me? Today of all days. You bitch, I lost a man last night—and you want to talk to me about respect? Where the hell is yours?”

“Are you finished?” Eve said smoothly. “Or do you have more?”

“I don’t like you.”

“Ouch.”

“I don’t like your attitude, your interference, or your habit of muscling in on my command. You’re not the only one who can file a formal complaint.”

“Be my guest. I think we both know, especially since Dad’s no longer in the chair, who’d come out on top on that one. Speaking of your father ...” Eve glanced at the portrait. “It was a pleasure meeting him earlier.”

“Fuck you.”

This time she didn’t bother to control it, and just laughed. “Wow! That really stings. Now, do you want to keep shooting your spitballs, or do you want to get down to it?”

“I’ve already wasted more than enough time on you.”

“Oh boy, I have to say right back at you. However, I actually make it a policy to do my job, even when it’s annoying. I’m here regarding Garnet. I see you’ve been informed of his death as you’re decked out in mourning black. Nice suit, by the way.”

Renee’s withering stare only gladdened Eve’s heart. “I’ll be documenting your sarcasm and disrespect toward a fallen officer.”

“Document your ass off. It has yet to be determined if he went down in the line, and in fact is leaning hard otherwise. And that’s not considering he was on suspension at the time of his death. It’s further not considering he’d have certainly lost his badge and faced criminal charges had he lived.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Well, gee, I’d say I guess you didn’t get the memo, except we both know otherwise.” Eve pulled a disc out of her pocket, tossed it on Renee’s desk. “That’s a recording from my home security that clearly shows Garnet ambushing me at the gates to my home, threatening me, striking me, and drawing his weapon on me with clear intent.

“Your man was rabid and rogue, Renee, a fact I have no doubt you and your father discussed quite recently. No wonder you’re in such a bad mood.”

“What my father and I discuss is none of your business.”

“On the contrary, you’ve made it mine. You went crying to Daddy about mean old Lieutenant Dallas, and it backfired on you. Instead of disciplining your detective for his behavior, you took steps to attempt to sweep it under the rug. And that detective, fully aware you would not and did not discipline him, escalated into drawing down on a fellow officer—with an unregistered weapon. He’d been using when he did it, and it will very likely be determined he’d been using when he died.”

“I—”

“I’m not done,” Eve snapped. “If you don’t immediately request and recommend a random test for your squad for illegals, I will—with cause.”

“What do you know about Illegals work?” Renee demanded. “Garnet had been under a great deal of pressure the last weeks. He’d been working on a lead on the Giraldi case, and it fizzled on him. He’d been working to revive it when you showed up here, pushing your weight around.”

“I fail to follow how my coming to you over your dead weasel somehow incited Garnet to abuse illegals, threaten me, and end up dead.”

“He was on the edge. I was fully aware of his problems and had discussed them with him. I wanted him to take some time off, get some counseling—and he asked for more time, asked to have a couple more weeks on Giraldi. I gave it to him, and I believe he was making progress on it, and on his personal problems, until you insisted on the suspension.”

“It’s amazing,” Eve said in sincere wonder. “Really, it is. You can justify the outrageous, even criminal behavior of your detective, and consider my actions in response not only as unfair but as a contributing factor. Your man was a f**kup, a dangerous f**kup. Now he’s a dead f**kup. You bear some weight there, and how you deal with that’s on you.